


Big Man in Town

by politics_and_prose



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, another one based on a four seasons song, i don't even think i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politics_and_prose/pseuds/politics_and_prose
Summary: When Spot took off a few weeks ago, they’d all assumed he’d be back within a few days, claiming he hated the world outside of Brooklyn or that Brooklyn couldn’t survive without him.  It surprised them all when three days passed, then five, then a week, then two, three, now six, and no one had heard from Spot since his mocking salute as he got into a cab.





	Big Man in Town

**Author's Note:**

> VERY loosely based on Big Man in Town by The Four Seasons. Let's call it more "inspired by" instead of based on.

“Have you heard from him lately?”

David looked up from the article he was proofing and removed his glasses. He hadn’t been expecting anyone, least of all Jack, to show up in his cubicle to quiz him about his – about their mutual friend’s whereabouts.

When Spot took off a few weeks ago, they’d all assumed he’d be back within a few days, claiming he hated the world outside of Brooklyn or that Brooklyn couldn’t survive without him. It surprised them all when three days passed, then five, then a week, then two, three, now six, and no one had heard from Spot since his mocking salute as he got into a cab.

David was sick with worry and filled with anger. 

“No,” he answered shortly, pulling his glasses back down onto his nose.

“Really?” Jack asked curiously, climbing up to rest his rear end on the corner of David’s desk. “We thought he woulda reached out to you by now. Everything okay with you before he left?”

“Fine,” he responded in the same tone. “Can I get back to work?”

“What’s got you all knotted up?” Jack asked as he pulled some kind of candy – M&Ms or Skittles or something – out of his pocket and tossed them into his mouth. “You sure everything was okay with Spot before he left? I know you’se two were gettin’ close.”

David knew he wasn’t getting out of having this conversation with Jack, so he sighed and removed his glasses again, this time setting them down on top of his copy. Putting off answering, he rubbed at his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts.

He and Spot _were_ getting close before he left. In more ways than one. They were friends, sure, but they were also something much, much more. Their touches had gone from accidental to very, very purposeful. It had been months since they started their incredibly quiet relationship, and David had been ready to take the next step.

He’d approached Spot about putting a label on their relationship and the other man had been twitchy about it but had agreed to let David call him his boyfriend, but only when they were alone. David may have mentioned it to his big sister but he’d invoked the Sibling Rule so he knew Sarah hadn’t told Jack, or anyone else for that matter.

After a while, David approached Spot about meeting his family for dinner as his boyfriend. And that was when Spot had said he needed to go out of town for a while.

So, really, David only had himself to blame.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “and then he left. And then he didn’t get in touch with any of us for upwards of six weeks.” 

“You know why he went?” Jack asked, shifting around and reaching over to grab David’s water bottle and take a sip.

David winced and pulled the bottle back. “We may be brothers now but we don’t have to share everything,” he said, shaking the bottle a bit before putting it back down. “He didn’t really get into specifics. Just that he needed to be better at something. Or something like that. He wasn’t really clear on it. Just packed a bag and hopped in a cab.”

“That sucks,” Jack said, sliding off the desk. “Let’s go get drunk about it.”

David rolled his eyes and picked up his glasses again. “It’s 3 p.m. and I have work to do, Jack.”

“Yeah,” the older boy replied, the word drawn out like it was a chore to even say it, “but you was probably here by, what, 6? And your lunch bag was still in the fridge. You can take off now. In fact,” he said, looked up and grinning at someone David couldn’t see, “I’m betting your editor would love for you to take off and do something non-workoholic-y and more, y’know, guy in his 20s-y." 

“Jack …”

“Sarah won’t let me home ‘til I show ‘er a picture of you in a bar with our friends,” he said with a shrug. “An’ I wanna go home tonight. So get your stuff and let’s go. Racetrack an’ Skittery’ll meet us there. Boots’ll be there after he gets done work.”

“Oh, so Boots can work but I can’t?” David asked, a hint of a smile on his face as he folded his glasses and put them in his pocket and stood. “I think that’s a bit unfair.” 

Jack grinned and gripped his shoulder, shaking it a bit, and pointed to the door. “Get a move on.”

David rolled his eyes but packed up his bag to work later, then slung it over his shoulder and followed Jack, shooting a glare at a silently chuckling Denton on his way out. 

\--

Two hours later, David was well beyond drunk. “So me an’ Spot … we’re sorta t’gether, right? An’ he just … he just _goes_. Doesn’t even _kiss me goodbye_. Jus’ gets in the – in the fucking _cab_ and _goes_ and he’s _gone_ now.”

At that point, David was too far gone to even recognize that he’d just outed his very private relationship to some of their friends.

“M’sure he’ll be back,” Specs, who had joined them somewhere around round three, told David. “If he really likes you.”

“But _does he_?” David asked, bringing his empty glass to his lips and frowning it at when nothing came out. He slammed it down onto the bar and turned to look at Jack. “I don’t think he really likes me.”

“I don’t think he really likes anyone,” Jack shrugged, sipping at his own drink. “But I think if he did it would be you.” 

“That doesn’t make sense. _Nothing_ makes sense. I thought – _Jack_. Jack, I thought he liked me. I was just foolin’ myself though.”

“Nah, buddy, if he don’t like you, that’s on him. ‘Cause you’re a _catch_.”

“You haveta say that,” David pouted, “since you’re my brother.”

“I ain’t sayin’ it,” Racetrack said immediately and without provocation, hands going up in the air. “Dave’s my friend an’ all but I ain’t callin’ ‘em a catch.” 

David stuck his tongue out at him. “Not my type anyway.”

“Yeah, apparently your type is scrawny white boys who wouldn’t know how to use their emotions if they came with a damn instruction manual,” Boots said, taking a shot and waving the bartender over for another. 

David rested his head on the bar and pointed in the general direction of his friend. “Got it in one.”

The other guys laughed while Race shook his head. “Look, Davey, I’m sure Spot’s gotta reason for bein’ all under the radar right now. He’ll come back. He’ll die if he stays outa Brooklyn for too long. It’s, like, science or something.”

“Y’ain’t helpin', Race,” Jack said, swatting at their friend. “Look, pal, I’m sure he’s fine and he’s just busy. Maybe he’s – I donno. Maybe he got a job or lost his phone or somethin’.”

“If he got a job that means he ain’t comin’ back,” David said and he sounded morose even to his own ears. “This is a lost cause. I should just – I should just forget about Spot Conlon and find someone else.”

“That’s the spirit,” Jack said, raising his beer in a toast. “Forget Spot Conlon and have some good ol’ fashioned no-strings-attached sex. We could go down ta that place on Delancey if you want. Sure there’s plenty’a fellas who think the sorta-librarian look is sexy.”

David stared at Jack for a minute, eyes narrowed. His head was spinning and there were about two and a half versions of his best friend slash brother-in-law standing in front of him. “No,” he said finally. “I think I’m gonna give Spot s’more time. ‘Cause, see, the thing is, I think I might love ‘em an’ if I go have sex with a rando and he comes back and he might love me too, then I cheated probably and that’s no good.” 

“Up to you, brother. I’m just sayin’, there’s more fish in the sea than Spot-fuckin’-Conlon.”

“Fuck you, Kelly.”

David’s head snapped up as he looked over to see three Spot Conlons walking up to the bar. “Spot.”

“The fuck, Mouth?” the new arrival asked, looking at him then glaring over at Jack. “You clocked him outa work early to come get wasted?”

“He stole me,” David said seriously, sitting up and bracing himself on Skittery’s shoulder. “He came to work and Denton let him steal me.”

“Yeah, Denton said you were bein’ a big ol’ mess’a feelin’s,” Spot said and David could tell there was affection behind his words. “All that ‘cause I had to skip town for a while?”

“You left me,” David accused, struggling to his feet. He swayed a bit and reached out for Skittery again. “You just left and you didn’t call and it’s been over a month and I’m really mad at you. You could’a just said you didn’t wanna meet my folks. I would’a got it.” 

“Dave …” Spot sighed. “It’s not … it’s not as easy as that.”

“Nothing ever is,” David shot back. “Jack, can I come stay with you and Sarah tonight?”

“Sorry, bud, no can do. Me and my lady got some plans that don’t involve her drunk ass brother crying on the couch. Maybe you and Spot should be grown ups and talk your shit out.”

David frowned. “I’m gonna remember those words the next time you show up at my door lookin’ for some sympathy ‘cause you put your foot in your mouth with Sarah.” 

Jack rolled his eyes and patted David on the back. “Call me when your skull stops pounding in the morning. Water and Tylenol before bed.” 

“Fuck off, Kelly, I got him,” Spot interjected as Jack headed for the door.

“Don’t be mean to Jack, Spot. S’not nice. He’s been pretty nice t’me since you _left_.”

David watched as Spot sighed and clenched his fists at his sides. “Let’s just go back to your place and talk this out, okay? It’s – I promise I got a good reason.”

David glanced back at his friends. He nodded to them and then to Jack, letting them know that he trusted Spot to get him home in once piece and that he would be okay. He wasn’t entirely sure about the second part but he wouldn’t know until it was over.

God, he really hoped it wouldn’t be _over_ tonight.

\-- 

By the time he and Spot got back to his apartment, David felt dead on his feet. He was exhausted and slowly slipping away from drunk and towards hung over. Spot deposited him onto his couch and headed into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with black coffee and an Oreo cookie.

“We’ll talk when you’re done with that,” Spot said, sitting beside him and grabbing the book he’d left on the end table before he disappeared six weeks earlier. David hadn’t had the heart to move it. 

“M’too tired to talk t’night,” he said, sipping the coffee anyway. “How about tomorrow?”

“No,” Spot rejected, not bothering to look up from the book. “You’ll pretend this never happened and I’ll lose my nerve and everything’ll be fucked, so just – just eat your cookie and drink your nasty coffee and then we’ll talk.”

David frowned but did what he was instructed to do. He felt almost like a child who was being punished and then would have to talk about what he’d done wrong and promise not to do it ever again. In this instance, he figured what he’d done wrong was push Spot towards something he wasn’t ready for a ruin their relationship. 

No big deal.

Once he was done with the coffee, he stood and took the cup into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water for himself and then one for Spot before making his way back to the couch. His stomach was rolling and he didn’t know if it was because he’d had way too much to drink or if it was the dread that was settling there. He wasn’t ready for his relationship with Spot to end but he was sincerely worried that it was about to do just that.

“So …” he started, unsure of where to start.

“I was in Albany.” 

David’s head snapped up in shock. Of all the places David could have guessed where Spot might have run to, Albany wasn’t anywhere near the list. “Albany?”

Spot shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. Had some, uh, testing that I had to get done.”

David felt like his stomach climbed to his throat and then dropped out of his body entirely. “T-testing?”

“Oh god. Not, uh, not health stuff. I’m fine. More like, uh, career stuff?”

“Career stuff? I don’t – I didn’t know you were …”

“I’ve been taking online courses. Since right around the time we got – since we started, y’know …” He reached over to take David’s hand, linking their fingers together. Part of David wondered if it should bother him that Spot couldn’t use the word _dating_ but he dismissed it, recognizing some people just weren’t as vocal as others.

“Yeah,” David agreed, squeezing his partner’s hand lightly. 

“I kinda – I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. Can only be the coolest guy in Brooklyn for so long until the hipsters outnumber the real Brooklynites and I can’t stay on my throne.”

David smiled slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me? About the courses, I mean.” 

Spot shrugged, staring at some middle space instead of looking to him. “Donno. Worried I might not pass or whatever. Didn’t wanna get your hopes up that your, y’know, that I could be something and then just … not.”

“Spot, that’s not –“

“I did it for me too. I needed to do more than bartend or bike for fuckin’ Uber Eats or whatever. I wanted – I want to _be_ someone. Someone that my old man woulda been proud of. Someone that _I’m_ proud of.” He paused and shrugged. “Someone you’re proud of and who could, y’know, impress your folks.”

David froze, Spot’s words turning over in his head. “How much of a coincidence was it that I invited you to come over to my parents’ for dinner and you had to go to Albany?” 

Spot shrugged. “Don’t believe in coincidence.”

David hauled off and punched his boyfriend in the shoulder. “Idiot. You should have _told_ me. Or at least called me when you were away. Six damn weeks, Sean.”

“I left my phone here!” he defended, standing up and walking over to the bookcase. “And it’s dead. And, fuck, Dave, I don’t know your phone number. I called your paper and asked for your desk but the idiot at the switch board didn’t know who you were and she wouldn’t let me get through to Denton. I _tried_.”

David just stared at Spot, wondering how they ended up in some kind of messed up Shakespearean comedy. The first chuckled bubbled up and escaped and it made Spot look at him like he had six heads. “The fuck?”

David couldn’t stop the laughter, though, and soon he was shaking with it, clutching his stomach as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. “You left your phone here,” he wheezed out, “and didn’t know my cell. And you couldn’t reach – reach me at work.”

“I don’t see how this is funny, Mouth. You were goin’ to Delancey Street to find someone to sleep with to get over me!” 

“I wasn’t!” David promised, sobering quickly and getting to his feet. “I _wasn’t_. I wouldn’t have. Not without – not without closure. Though, I mean, I don’t think we need it, do we?”

“Not unless you’re droppin’ my ass, which would mean I got this fucking electrician’s certificate for nearly nothin’,” Spot answered with a shrug as he walked to meet David in the middle of the living room. 

“You’re an electrician now?” he asked with a smile.

“Well, I gotta do some apprentice shit but sorta?”

David smiled and pulled Spot close in a hug. “That’s amazing. I’m really proud of you.” He pulled back and looked Spot in the eye. “But you didn’t have to hide it. Pass or fail, I would have been proud of you.”

Spot narrowed his eyes and gave David a shove. “Fuck off,” he said before pulling the other man back and kissing him. It didn’t last long, not nearly long enough for either of them, when Spot pulled back and grinned. “Yes.”

“Yes?” David asked in confusion. “Yes, you wanna …?” he asked leadingly.

“Yes,” Spot agreed. “I wanna have dinner with your folks.” 

“Oh my god,” David groaned, rolling his eyes and shoving his now-cackling boyfriend. “I hate you.”

“Nah,” Spot disagreed with a grin. “I really don’t think you do.” 

“No,” David agreed, smiling and pulling Spot closer to him again, “I really don’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> Big Man in Town [The Four Seasons]
> 
> Big man in town... 
> 
> Each day as I grow older,   
> The nights are getting colder.   
> Some day the sun will shine on me.   
> Money, I don't have any:   
> I'm down to my last penny,   
> But, darling, don't cry over me: 
> 
> I'll be a big man in town (honest, honey)   
> I'll be a big man in town (promise, darling)   
> I'll be a big man in town, just you wait and see:   
> You'll be proud of me. 
> 
> They think that I'm a rover,   
> But my roving days are over.   
> Someday your folks will welcome me.   
> I went away a small man,   
> But I'll come home a tall man.   
> Then what a pretty bride you'll be. 
> 
> I'll be a big man in town (honest, honey)   
> I'll be a big man in town (promise, darling)   
> I'll be a big man in town, just you wait and see:   
> You'll be proud of me. 
> 
> I'm gonna make it, just wait and see.   
> I'm gonna make it, just wait and see.   
> Just wait and see,   
> Girl, I'm gonna make it, just wait and see.
> 
> \--
> 
> P.S. - I forgot the word "hipster" so I had to Google "modern day hippie" and follow the links I clicked until the word came up. Enjoy my fail. LOL.


End file.
